Thanks for sharing, dforest. I think that your story is very relevant to this incident.
It may be that some who are reading this thread have forgotten that Trig has some challenges that he and his parents must address throughout his life. Trig will not always be a little, cute boy. Eventually he will probably be about the size of his father, and without the proper teaching he could have some serious problems coping with society, its limits and structure.
The dog is Trig’s service dog.
I’m sure that the dog, Trig, and the warm and loving, and incredibly competent Palin family, will all survive this moment that was captured on film, and that has passed.
https://www.facebook.com/ellentv/photos/a.182755292239.124686.26012002239/10152602026212240/?type=1
Indeed. Hopefully the parents have already taken the step of teaching him why that behavior is not okay and will continue to enforce it.
Unfortunately, children with special needs don’t always process that sometimes social situations require them to not engage in particular behaviors.
For instance, a father and his six year old son may have a ritual in which the boy tackles his father the moment he comes home from work.
Most six year old boys understand that it is not acceptable to give their 90-year-old great-grandmother the same greeting.
A mentally challenged six year old boy may not be able to process the difference; for some children, it’s either “always acceptable” or “never acceptable”, and they never develop the mental maturity to process “situationally acceptable”.
Regrettably in dforest’s case, the parents and the men in that boy’s life didn’t teach the boy better (at that time). Perhaps it did not occur to them, prior to that incident, that the boy did not comprehend situational acceptability. Perhaps they thought his antics humorous enough to downplay the risks.
Still a good lesson to learn from.